Revolutionary War spy drama 'Turn' premieres Sunday on AMC

For many of us, those terms are just part of a long-ago history lesson about the Revolutionary War. Even if we live in the very North Jersey towns that George Washington and his men traversed, we may not fully appreciate what it was like in that brutal, dangerous final quarter of the 18th century.

And that's why AMC's new "Turn" is so fascinating. The series makes that bygone era — and its heroes and villains, both famous and obscure — come alive.

"Turn," based on Alexander Rose's book "Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring," is a character-driven thriller that tells the little-known true story of the Culper Ring, our earliest espionage network.

Although New Jersey plays a role in the 90-minute opener, the central locale is the north fork of British-occupied Long Island. And its main figure is a young Setauket farmer named Abraham Woodhull, who reluctantly turns hero while living behind enemy lines. Executive producer Craig Silverstein has believably simulated that era's scenery by combining digital effects and location filming in the Richmond, Va., area. As the series opens in 1776, Abraham — well played by Jamie Bell, who was Billy Elliot in the same-named 2000 film — is a man of conflicted loyalties. He has a 1-year-old son, Thomas, with his wife Mary (Meegan Warner). Theirs was an arranged marriage. Several years before, Abraham had been engaged to Anna Strong (Heather Lind), but their fathers — his a local magistrate and staunch Tory, hers a liberal Whig — broke them up. Anna went on to marry tavern owner Selah Strong, a known Whig, and her sympathies are also with the Patriots.

When Abraham's cabbage crop fails, he, without telling his wife, resorts to black-market trading, a dangerous endeavor that brings about an unplanned reunion with two childhood friends: Caleb Brewster (Daniel Henshall), a trader in Connecticut (and later, the spy ring's courier); and Ben Tallmadge (Seth Numrich), a Yale-educated Continental Dragoon in Washington's army, who is instrumental in "turning" Abraham into a spy.

It is genuinely suspenseful to watch Abraham rowing across Long Island Sound in the darkness, or narrowly evading British soldiers as he hides in Anna's cellar — or breaking into enemy headquarters to get top secret British communiqués. Viewers will learn about some of the methods used for spying back then — including the secret signals, such as a black petticoat being hung on a clothesline to signify that a message was ready to be passed along.

Other characters in the series include: Abraham's father, Judge Richard Woodhull (Kevin R. McNally), who is friendly with Major Hewlett (Burn Gorman), the garrison commander in Setauket; Robert Rogers (Angus MacFadyen), the ruthless mercenary leader of the Queen's Rangers, and Major John Andre (JJ Feild), the New York-based head of British Intelligence — and a figure probably familiar to those who have dined at The Old 76 House in Tappan, N.Y.

Its historic tavern is where Andre was imprisoned after he was captured as an enemy spy. Following a trial at the Reformed Church of Tappan, Andre was hanged in the town in 1780.

If "Turn" gets renewed, beyond its first 10 episodes, we may witness Andre's date with destiny.